County Commission to vote on taking over EMS

By Matthew Beaton / The News Herald

Published: Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 04:57 PM.

Thomas said he believed there would be an immediate transition if the commission voted to bring EMS in-house.

“County staff will be in the process of getting all this put together,” he said. “They’ve been working on it, I believe, (with) the feasibility part of it, to where they should be able to move fairly rapidly and take the whole thing over in time.”

Commissioner Guy Tunnell, meanwhile, said he’s been a proponent of bringing EMS in-house “for a while,” though he’s willing to listen to detractors.

“Unless I hear something contrary, I’m certainly in favor of us going ahead and taking over the service,” he said.

Tunnell said the county has “studied this thing to death,” and now it’s time for action.

As far as the clerk of court’s analysis, Tunnell indicated he trusted the Fitch report more than Kinsaul’s opinion.

“I respect Mr. Kinsaul and what he’s got to say, but he’s the clerk of the court; he’s not the expert when it comes to EMS services or operations. I think we’ve talked to some folks where that’s their profession,” Tunnell said.

PANAMA CITY— The Bay County Commission will vote Tuesday on whether to bring ambulance services in-house.

These operations, commonly called emergency medical services (EMS), are being run Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System, which went private under a 40-year lease in 2012.

The vote comes shortly after the county received an analysis by an EMS consulting firm, Fitch & Associates, on whether the move is financially feasible. The analysis said the county could make money on the move, between $600,000 and $1.2 million.

But a separate county clerk of court analysis offered a different perspective, saying the decision could wind up costing the county money.

“Should Bay County implement EMS services it is this office’s opinion, based on the points above, the fees from operations will not cover expenses, requiring funds from another source,” said Bill Kinsaul, clerk of court, in the analysis.

Kinsaul also worried that the county’s budget had just been “depleted of cash over the past five years” and taking over EMS operations would milk it of more money.

Nevertheless, the majority of commissioners favor county control of EMS.

Commissioner Mike Thomas said the Fitch analysis and county’s demographics make him feel “pretty good” about the move. He also said the ambulance service is already making money.

“I think it’s a good idea,” he said.

Thomas said he’d like to see EMS merged one day with the county’s fire and rescue service, which would put more trained personnel on the road. He said a lot of other cities and counties have done that. He added it makes sense because stricter fire codes have meant fewer fires, so this would give personnel a dual purpose

Thomas said the commission has been looking at bringing EMS operations in-house for two years. He said Bay Med controlling the service was fine when it was nonprofit, but that’s changed. And he’s not comfortable with a for-profit hospital running the only EMS operations in the county.

“Clearly the protocol is that Bay Medical says that if somebody doesn’t ask or direct where they want to be taken, they’ll be carried to Bay Medical,” he said.

The county controls who gets a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (COPCN), which allows one or more entities to run EMS operations. Bay Med’s COPCN will expire at the end of June and has already been extended twice, while the commission mulled who would control EMS.

In April, County Manager Ed Smith said Bay Med’s COPCN would “probably” be extended a third time, and temporarily, there might be dueling COPCNs. But now that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Thomas said he believed there would be an immediate transition if the commission voted to bring EMS in-house.

“County staff will be in the process of getting all this put together,” he said. “They’ve been working on it, I believe, (with) the feasibility part of it, to where they should be able to move fairly rapidly and take the whole thing over in time.”

Commissioner Guy Tunnell, meanwhile, said he’s been a proponent of bringing EMS in-house “for a while,” though he’s willing to listen to detractors.

“Unless I hear something contrary, I’m certainly in favor of us going ahead and taking over the service,” he said.

Tunnell said the county has “studied this thing to death,” and now it’s time for action.

As far as the clerk of court’s analysis, Tunnell indicated he trusted the Fitch report more than Kinsaul’s opinion.

“I respect Mr. Kinsaul and what he’s got to say, but he’s the clerk of the court; he’s not the expert when it comes to EMS services or operations. I think we’ve talked to some folks where that’s their profession,” Tunnell said.

But Tunnell wants EMS operations and financials to be watched closely if it’s brought in-house. He also pointed out that the county could always bid out the service if it does lose money. He said he believes plenty of private entities would want to run the service if it were bid out.

But right now, Tunnell’s on board with a county-run EMS.

“I’d like to see this be revenue neutral. If it makes money that’s great,” he said.

The commission meeting is at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Commission Chambers of the Bay County Government Center at 840 W. 11th St.

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